Riders approaching the Eyrie from the Vale of Arryn.
Tyrion Lannister, Ser Vardis Egen and Catelyn Stark in the entrance hall of the Eyrie.
The Eyrie is the principle stronghold of House Arryn. It is located in the Vale of Arryn near the east coast of Westeros.
Unlike the novels, where the Eyrie is a traditional castle sitting on a shoulder of a very tall mountain, the TV version of the castle appears to completely enclose the top of a much smaller mountain.
Notable residents of the Eyrie
- Lady Lysa Arryn, the current ruler of the castle.
- Lord Robin Arryn, Lysa's son and titular head of House Arryn, although he will not formally inherit the title for many more years.
- Ser Vardis Egen, captain of the guards.
- Mord, the castle's jailor and keeper of the sky cells.
In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Eyrie is a mountain-top fortress located on a shoulder of the Giant's Lance, one of the tallest mountains on the continent. It is inhabited by the Arryns during the long springs and summers, before the family removes to the Gates of the Moon at the bottom of the mountain to sit out the winters. The Eyrie is only a small castle itself, but is almost impossible to reach. An invading army would have to overcome the Bloody Gate at the mouth of the Vale before taking the Gates of the Moon. Then, as it advanced up the mountain path to the Eyrie, it would come under sustained attack from the Eyrie and the three way-castles up the path, all of which can drop rocks, boulders and oil on an advancing foe at will.
The Eyrie consists of several towers, a great hall, a sept and a number of unique 'sky cells'.
According to myth, the first Andal invaders landed on the coast of the Vale. The first Lord Arryn flew on the back of a giant falcon to slay the Griffin King atop the Giant's Lance and then built a fortress atop the mountain.